Not an End, So to Speak
by Lightning Eterna
Summary: He wakes up on a bed of grass. This shouldn't be the case, there should be nothing left. No more of that madwoman's false afterlife projections to addle his mind.


He watches as the clever illusion disintegrates. A sham world beyond death collapsing before him.

Pressing the bracelet into the boy's hand, he had guided him toward the light - his second chance, his redemption. The child seemed to understand him, regardless of the language barrier and nodded, eyes grave.

He would be in safe hands. Clara would take care of him.

As for the soldier, he takes one last breath. Not that it's necessary, he's already dead, but it's all he has left. The last semblance of anything that could be called life. It too, is an illusion.

Danny watches grimly, hands gripping the railing tightly, with a sort of rapt fascination as the Nethersphere decays, him at the center of it.

* * *

><p>He wakes up on a bed of grass. This shouldn't be the case, there should be nothing left. No more of that madwoman's false afterlife projections to addle his mind.<p>

What was it he had told Clara about wanting to see the things in front of him more clearly?

It takes him a moment to realize his eyes are still closed. Perhaps he's holding back, he isn't ready to subject himself to what he expects to be the neverending darkness of the void beyond.

Breathing steadily - he shouldn't have to, why does he keep doing that - he finally allows himself to see this supposed world in front of him.

The brightness shocks him for a moment, and he gasps. He hadn't anticipated so much light, colors richer than he'd ever experienced in life.

It's all too good to be true. It has to be. Is this the final delusion of his dying mind - a world so vivid and wonderful (well it can't be _that_ wonderful, not if Clara isn't with him) that it almost makes him want to break down in tears once more?

He's never been the religious sort, he's not about to convince himself that he's actually made it, it's not possible, not after everything he's seen and...

From where he's lying, he's neglected to take notice of the small face framed in dark hair hovering over him, curious eyes observing him rather expectantly. The young girl smiles softly, seemingly relieved that he's finally realized her presence.

"What...where am I?" He's already asked this question before, and he's not sure he wants an answer this time.

"You're in the mainframe," says a voice, and Danny springs up from his position, a bit startled. He minds himself not to bump into the girl and looks up to the owner of said voice, standing over him.

She's a gorgeous woman with a mane of curls that seem to shift between gold and auburn in the brilliant light of wherever he is. She's wearing white, a subtly sparkling soft cardigan draped over the shoulders of a white gown, and pearly slippers for her feet.

Danny supposes it should make her look ethereal - which, it does - but he'd be lying if he didn't think she looked a bit like a ghost.

"What's the mainframe?" It sounds vaguely technological, so at least they're not going to waste his time trying to fool him with promises of coffee and paradise.

This time the little girl pipes up. "Part of the biggest database in all the universe, known throughout as the Library. Your mind has been uploaded here."

He hasn't the time nor the patience to ruminate over what it all means. It's only been days since he's been introduced to the concept of a human mind becoming uploadable data after death. So far he fails to see how this Library is any different from the Nethersphere.

The woman with golden-then-auburn curls is looking at him. Her expression is unreadable, though Danny suspects she is scrutinizing every last inch of him. Something about her gaze, something in her eyes tells him she's ancient - or close to it. The essence of time itself it seems, might have once run through her blood, made up the marrow of her bones - and, he thinks, Clara's literary predisposition might have rubbed off on him in their time together.

It's strange, but something about her makes him think of the Doctor. She too, seems to have the bearing of an officer, someone who's watched others go to war in her staid.

The difference, he thinks, is this woman looks as if she's served the front lines first.

"Oh, but we have to introduce ourselves!" the girl suddenly realizes. Danny turns to look at her, giving her his complete attention. Dealing with children has become natural to him, it's almost a default setting in his mind.

(Perhaps thoughts of default settings isn't the most appropriate after having been upgraded. But there's no one left to offend, so he brushes off such sensibilities.)

"I'm called CAL," the girl says. "Short for Charlotte Abigail Lux. I'm...well, my mind is integrated into the computer that controls the Library."

His brow creases a bit at that. "You're a computer?"

"Yes. But I wasn't always. But I am now." She looks a bit as if she's struggling, never having had to explain her situation before now. "I was sick. They put me in here so I could live..."

Danny stops her. "That's fine. I think I understand." He's had his share of stories of dying children.

"Charlotte is quite the clever girl," the woman suddenly speaks. There's a hint of pride in her tone. "She managed to extract you just in time from the matrix your mind was secluded in."

Ah. The Nethersphere. So it disintegrated without him.

"I don't believe I caught your name?" the woman says to him.

Danny finally stands up, brushing himself off. Looking down at himself, he doesn't know what he expected. He's wearing the exact same clothes as when he died.

He extends his hand in greeting. "The name is..."

_Danny Pink_. Well, it is his name. It's been his name for as long as he can remember. That was the name that carried him into the war zone. Wanting to laugh bitterly, he thinks of how he chose the name as a child, alone and unwanted in children's home.

Back then, when he dreamt of being Dan the Soldier Man. The hero who didn't need a gun to save the world. Well, he'd fulfilled that dream, so to speak. Dan the Soldier Man (Dan the Cyberman, really) had served his purpose.

Without hesitation, he smiles, and tries again.

"Sorry, the name is Rupert Pink."

The woman reaches for his hand with her own, a genuine smile perking her lips.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Rupert. I'm Melody Pond."


End file.
